Cakewalk

I was walking down Abbott Kinney Street in Venice this week and I passed by the window of the restaurant, Lemonade. I passed and then I walked backward to get another look at the coconut cake in the window. I smiled and not just any smile, but a very big one. When I looked at that cake it took me to the Blanche Reynolds School cakewalk fundraiser circa 1965. How I loved cakewalks. There was a very long table filled with cakes of all sizes and varieties baked by all the moms of the 1960's...that means homemade! I stood in front of that table for a very long time setting my sights on the cakes that I was sure were meant for me. Top of the list was the coconut cake! My mom bought the tickets so we could enter the walk and off we went. The music started and when it stopped, whatever number I landed on in the circle corresponded to the number of the cake I had won. I would hurry over to the table with the hope that it was the coconut cake. Well, over the years I won many cakes but somehow, never the evasive coconut cake. So fast forward to Wednesday and the window at Lemonade and there we have the perfect coconut cake! Where do you think I had lunch that day? We ordered lunch and then at the very end I asked for a piece of the coconut cake. When we got to the table I told Alain the story of the coconut cake....the one that got away! We both had tears in our eyes thinking about how the little things in life matter and how, if we are lucky, the child in us never leaves. Every bite of that cake made me smile....many years later I had the winning ticket!